1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing control method and a printing control apparatus for printing an image onto a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has conventionally been known a method in which a layout of a print is determined in anticipation of a condition that a printed sheet is used in a folded state. For example, in a bookbinding print technique for forming a booklet, an image is laid out on the assumption that the print sheet is folded back at its center. For example, WO 2007/058390 discusses a print method in which when a print sheet, having a print image printed on one side, is folded back by a user, a printed result that appears as a pseudo two-sided print can be obtained (the print method described above is referred to as a folding two-sided print below). The print method described above is utilized for an advertising poster that is hung down from a ceiling, and that is mostly used in a mass merchandiser market and the like.
In the technique of making a layout on the assumption of the print sheet being folded back, a binding margin may sometimes be formed at the folded portion. For example, in the bookbinding technique, there has been known a technique of forming a binding margin at the folded portion, since the bookbinding has a feature that the sheet is bound at the folded portion.
On the other hand, when the hanging advertising poster is printed by using the folding two-sided print, the poster is not always hung down at the folded portion. Therefore, it is required that a binding margin is set at the portion, such as the portion for hanging the sheet, other than the folded portion. In the hanging advertising poster, a clip member, which is used as a substitute for a weight, may be set at the lower portion, which is opposite to the hanging portion. In this case, it is required that the binding margin is set at the lower portion opposite to the hanging portion.
A roll sheet is mostly used for the print sheet for forming the hanging advertising poster described above. The width of the roll sheet is fixed, but its length can freely be changed. Therefore, posters of various sizes can be formed according to the direction of a document.
FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D illustrate a roll sheet on which a print image having a binding margin set thereto is printed. FIG. 9A illustrates a poster whose long side is the same as a half of the width of the roll sheet, FIG. 9B illustrates a poster whose short side is the same as a half of the width of the roll sheet, FIG. 9C illustrates a poster whose long side is equal to the width of the roll sheet, and FIG. 9D illustrates a poster whose short side is equal to the width of the roll sheet.
However, when a poster having the target size is formed, a user has to consider the direction of a document or a folded position according to the size in a conventional case, which is very troublesome. When a binding margin for the clip member used for hanging down the poster is set, a user has to consider a more complicated layout.